Electrohydraulic lithotripsy has been used in the medical field, primarily for breaking concretions in the urinary or biliary track. Conventional lithotripsy probes produce a focused or reflected shockwave that radiates axially from a distal end of the lithotripsy probe. This form of treatment has been adapted for generating a shockwave projected to a specific spot within an organism, or at the surface of an organism. Those adaptations utilize various wave shaping methods, usually in the form of elliptical reflection, to project the maximum power to a focal point inside an organism or on the surface of an organism. The focal point receives the largest impact from the shockwave, with degradation in the strength of the shockwave taking the form of an hourglass-type shape on both sides of the focal point, the largest impact occurring at the narrowest part of the hourglass shape.
Techniques for shaping shockwaves produced by electrohydraulic lithotripsy are complex and costly. Significant factors in the focusing and shaping of the shockwave include the shape and positioning of a lithotripsy probe's electrodes, as well as the power supplied to the electrodes. For these reasons, known electrohydraulic lithotripters utilize a single probe to insure that the impact of the shockwave is maximized at the intended focal point. However, use of a single probe has a number of performance limitations, including for example, the size of generated wave fronts. Known devices are therefore limited by complexity of design, cost, and performance capabilities. Accordingly, improved electrohydraulic lithotripters are desirable.